This invention relates to a method of operating a computer system and to the computing system itself.
Almost all modern computing systems use graphical user interfaces (GUIs) as the main interface for a user to interact with the applications being run by the computing system. Desktop computers and handheld computing devices such as smartphones and tablet computers all use GUIs. In the case of a desktop computer, a user will interact with the GUI via a keyboard and mouse, using an on-screen cursor, for example. In the case of modern smartphones and tablet computers, a user will interact with the GUI via a touchscreen, for example using their finger(s) or a stylus. The GUI will be configured to behave in certain ways in specific circumstances, which are not always preferable for all users. For example features such as scrolling, selection of menus and shortcuts are often configured in different ways on different devices/applications, which can leave a user in difficulties when using a GUI with which they are unfamiliar.
Most GUIs have an associated help system which describes the configuration steps and options of the GUI. To access a help system a user is required to invoke the help system via a menu or key stroke. The problem for the user then becomes navigating to the correct description in the help system. This usually requires searching the whole help database to find the correct configuration steps. For example, a user may need to frame a query such as: “how do I stop the meeting reminder appearing 10 minutes before the meeting?”. Another difficult task for a user to perform is to determine the specific configuration options for a particular part of a GUI. So, for example, the GUI user may want to know “what are the configuration options for changing the behavior of the scroll bar in the web browser?” Many users find the navigation of an entire help system difficult and frustrating to use, when attempting to locate GUI configuration information.